


Hazardous Conditions

by AceQueenKing



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, F/F, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 04:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10734105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: When Shepard and Ashley wind up in a broken Mako in a blizzard, more gets stirred up than just the snow.





	Hazardous Conditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MalcolmInSpace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalcolmInSpace/gifts).



The Mako got cold quickly after the temperature fell.  
  
It had not been developed for long-term deployment in hostile territories; Ash knew this, and felt her worries in her stomach. She didn’t have much to distract her: the Mako was _quiet_ , for the first time, with only the drone of Shepard’s voice to sooth her.   
  
Shepard hadn’t given up yet.  
  
“This is Port Hanshan Mako #2034,” she said; her soft, pink skin was even more pale than usual, and Ashley thought feverishly about how she was starting to resemble the snow that was piling all around them. “We’ve broken down on the trail to Peak 15; this is Spectre Shepard, I have two associates with me, no injuries.”  
  
 _Yet_ , Ashley mouthed, but did not dare voice; Shepard did not turn back to her, too focused on the moment at hand. Ash shivered. The light armor she’d picked up from the Hanar at Port Hanshan had been built to absorb gunshots – not heat. She was _freezing_. She sat with her arms hugging her chest tight and pretended it helped.   
  
“We need evac,” Shepard said, her full Spectre authority dripping in every word. It did not matter. It met the same response Shepard had gotten for the last _hour._  But Shepard hadn’t given up yet. Ashley wasn't sure Shepard knew she _could_ give up. Shepard leaned toward the radio, as if she was expecting a response beyond static. Ash had given up hope of that. She looked away from Shepard toward the whiteness outside. The blizzard was blowing strong; flecks of white hit the windows with a heavy tempo - _splat, splat, splat_. She felt, more than heard, her knuckles tighten against her armor.  
  
This was _not_ how Ashley Williams planned to die. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer. She hoped it helped.   
    
She wasn’t the only one ill at ease. Tali was getting restless – she paced down the small room, the only one of them short enough to do so without having to stoop. Ashley was jealous of this; even she had to bend to get into the Mako, and didn’t know how Garrus or Wrex ever managed to fold themselves into the relatively small seats. It had barely been built for humans, let alone aliens. Only Tali fit well, but she was closer to human than any of the other aliens. Sometimes, she could almost forget Tali _was_ an alien, so human were her expressions, her emotions; quarians exhibited similar body language to humans, and it had made her remarkably easier to read for Ashley.

She had little trouble reading her now. Tali’s hands were as tense as her own, held tightly at her sides. She was muttering in a language that sounded like her grandmother’s when she dropped a spoon and her old dog Rex had run off with it; she suspected Tali, like Abuela Carmen, had a rather profane streak when pressured.  
     
“Sit down, Tali,” Shepard murmured; she had an edge in her voice, for the first time. Tali stopped, hands on her hips. It was obvious she was going to say something, but then she didn’t, sitting down next to Ash. Shepard flicked a button.  
  
“This is Port Hanshan Mako #2034,” Shepard droned. “We’ve broken down on the trail to Peak 15, this is Spectre Shepard, I have two associates with me. We need an evac ASAP.”   
  
Shepard pressed a hand to her ear, alternating, as she had been doing, her request for evac to Port Hanshan with her request tothe Normandy.   
  
“Joker?” She said.   
  
Ash could not hear what response Shepard was getting, but suspected it was nothing. Tali tapped her foot next to her, and Ash closed her eyes, not wanting to stare at Shepard. She had seen Shepard’s eyes moving toward her, had wondered what it meant; now it did not seem to matter at all. She felt tired, but tried to fight it, tried to focus on Tali’s foot. _Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-ta-  
_  
“Tali, please,” Shepard said. “I’m trying to hear.”   
  
Tali stopped and stood. She looked down at Ash for just a second, her glowing eyes squinting, and Ash blinked back, unable to look away.   
  
“I’m going to look at the engines,” Tali said, a bit crisply, before turning and stalking toward the door.   
  
“Tali – “Ash said, feeling a bit guilty. The girl’s nervousness was understandable –   
  
“It’s fine,” Tali said, her eyes softening toward her. “It’s not the first time that quarians have had to camp out in an inhospitable system. We’re used to repairing in worse conditions than this. I’ll try to get the engines back online.”   
  
“Thirty minutes,” Shepard barked. “If you can’t get it working then -”  
  
Tali nodded and saluted; the saluting was something new, something Ash wondered if tali had picked up from Kaiden or herself. “Yes. Let me know if anything comes through the wire.”   
  
And with that, Tali was gone. Silence reigned in the Mako, the only noise the sound of Tali flipping open the engine in the front. Ash wanted to join her, but she’d never been good with vehicles; she’d always maintained artillery. And she doubted her armor would last as long as Tali’s in the elements.  
  
“Williams,” Shepard said, her voice a low and dark presence; not cold but warm, intensely warm – burning. _Tiger Tiger Burning Bright_ , Ash thought, then stopped. Poetry could not help her here, but she could not stop the dark blush that spilled across her cheeks.  
  
Shepard turned around in the driver’s seat.   
  
Ash saluted, then kept her eyes low, looking more at Shepard’s feet than her face. She still wasn’t quite comfortable with the feelings Shepard evoked in her, and now she had no more time to work through them. Did the blush betray her? Perhaps Shepard thought she was ashamed.   
  
She saw those long, black boots shift as Shepard stood. Shepard walked toward her, her hips swinging confidently. She took a seat next to Ash. Ashley tried hard not to breathe in too deeply, willed herself to remain calm. Fraternization wasn’t allowed, even if it felt inevitable that they were going to starve to death. Or freeze. She wasn’t sure which she’d prefer, yet.   
  
“Do you think I was too hard on her?” Shepard said; one of her hand dropped to Ashley’s own, and Ashley’s fingers curled reflexively against Shepard’s.   
    
Outside, Tali sparked the engine, and Ash felt both their hearts leap in tandem – then it died again, seconds later. Shepard squeezed her hand tighter and Ash didn’t ask her what she meant by it.  
     
“You do what you have to do in these situations, ma'am.” Ash squeezed her hand in response, skirting forbidden territory. Shepard didn’t drop her hand. “Panic doesn’t help anyone.”  
  
“No.” Shepard sounded relieved, at least almost. “I should get back to hailing. We can’t give up. We’ve – we’ve gotten so far…”  
     
“I know.” Ashley should have separated their hands, should have allowed Shepard to leave, but instead she held tight to Shepard’s hand. She was warm, in spite of the cold blanket of snow falling around them. “No regrets, Commander Shepard. No matter if this is as far as we go. Being with you, striking down flashlight heads with my boomstick… I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”   
  
“Ash…Call me Jane,” Shepard said, her voice soft as rain but the meaning of her words striking like lightning on Ash’s nerves. The Commander had  _never_ given her permission to use her first name; such things were a bit _too_ close.   
  
She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry at the thought of the name. It might as well have been an apple in the garden of Eden. All the Williamses had always been Alliance blue and true, honor the rules, don’t break the code – but then again, what had that gotten them besides near-universal scorn and an early grave? And with Tali outside, the engine still dead – what did she have to lose?   
  
“Jane,” she said. The name was foreign but sweet on her tongue, and she said it again: “Jane.”  
  
“Ash…” Shepard chuckled, her voice honeyed in a way that sent ripples down Ash’s spine. “Perhaps it’s forward of me, but – “  
  
She knew what was going to happen seconds before it did, the thought _She’s going to kiss me_ still echoing through her head even as Shepard’s lips claimed her own. It was not a chaste kiss but a heavy one, the sort that pushed Ash forwards, scrambling desperately, her hands moving in Shepard’s hair.   
  
She heard the clang of metal on metal as Shepard’s breastplate hit her own and knew Tali probably could hear them but for once, she didn’t care; they were going to die, here on a cold and alien rock, and all that she had to comfort herself with was the fire-red soldier kissing her feverishly, her red hair tumbling suddenly down her shoulders, and Ash was only dimly aware that she'd done that, broken another regulation, but it didn’t matter because all she wanted was _more_ , all she wanted  was for Shepard to touch her – the Commander’s hand stilled against the clasp of her breast plate, and Ash murmured  _yes oh yes_ in a low voice, the thrum in her blood almost deafing her to all outward noise, all noise except the sound of those fingers moving across that clasp, not clumsily but skillful –   
  
A roaring sound diverted them both, and she saw Shepard’s beautiful fire-red hair whip around as the engine sprung to life, the choked noise instantly spinning out into a roaring thrum. She looked back at her, and Ash saw the regret that crossed her face instantly, but it didn’t stop Shepard from pulling away. Ash swallowed, redid the clasp on her armor. She ached, but duty came first, and she numbly gave Shepard her hair tie back, then went to redo her own. 

She had barely swept it back up into the familiar bun when Tali burst back into the Mako, her eyes glowing in triumph. Ash tried to be happy for her, for them all. She nodded and smiled. 

“Good job,” Shepard said, clasping Tali’s shoulder. “Let’s get going.”  
  
Ash stood, though her legs felt like jelly, and unsteadily walked toward Shepard and Tali. “Which way do we go?” She asked, though she wasn't entirely sure which situation she was referring to. The world around her felt like it had shifted; an avalanche threatened to bury her, and it was all she could do to hang on. 

Shepard turned toward her, a soft smile on her face before settling back down into the driver’s seat.   
  
“Forward,” she said. “That’s the only way we can go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Malcolminspace on tumblr for the prompt Ashley/Shepard + Polar.


End file.
